Old Slugger | Cooperstown Brewing Company

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A very nicely balanced pale ale that uses Fuggles in addition to the usual Cascade hops, which to me adds a degree of flavor & aroma complexity that some of the purely Cascade pale ales seem to miss. Call it a mid-Atlantic pale ale - halfway between British & American in character. Very drinkable, with background flavor notes of butterscotch and just a bit of Ringwood yeast flavor which add to the firm maltiness and balancing bitterness. In my fridge more often than not when I look at my beer stash.

Poured a pale amber with a great big white head. Aroma is . . . hey! Creamy and toasty -- can you imagine? An APA that smells like something other than breakfast citrus! Let's have a sip . . . ok, to be fair, the grapefruit hops are there, but balanced and working with the other members of the cast -- not chewing the scenery as they scream, "Hops! HOPS! This isn't macro and you can tell 'cause its got HOPS!!!"

A complex taste. That creamy flavor is the first thing I notice, but then it is balanced out by the toasty malt and hops. This beer has the complexity and character that you will find in a good English Special Bitter, but it is lighter in color and body.

I'm choosing to review this as an English Pale Ale, because pretty much every aspect of this beer is more English than American, and it's a very successful English Ale for the reasons I will enumerate below, whereas it lacks the hop bite that we expect from an APA. I think the negative reviews this beer has received of late have been because of its miscategorization.

That said, it pours a hazy amber with a mountain of light tan head, which eventually bubbled away into a persistent half-inch of foam that left decent lacing most of the way down the glass. The smell was primarily of rich biscuity malts and honey, but there's fruity yeast and buttery diacetyl present as well. It's very pleasant.

I think it's quite a tasty brew, and don't understand other reviewers' gripes, aside from the fact that it's not a real APA. Up front, you've got the malts and honey, the fruity yeast, but the earthy/grassy hops do come out, and I don't find the finsh cloying at all -- more of a tart green apple.

It's got a big body, which borders on being too heavy, but the finish really makes up for it -- the mouthfeel is wet & sticky while the beer is still in your mouth, but right after each swallow, my tongue dried right up, which left me in the perfect position to have another sip. I'm not sure I'd drink this on a warm afternoon, but it's perfect for a cool spring evening such as tonight. A good seasonal beer, IMO.

Very appealling orange bronze body, some carbonation streams, medium clarity, and a huge tower of egg-shell white foam, rising above the rim, with some impressive dents in the top. Some dripping lacing.

Big bakery bready aroma, with some floral and fruity hints along the edge.

Taste kicks off with a nice solid sweet caramelly foundation. Pleasant tide of earthy hops build on that foundation enough to call it their own. Light, mellow hop tingle gently lingers from the finish and on into the aftertaste. Good balance overall. A Very English pale ale.

Proper mediumish mouthfeel.

Good drinkability, I could session this.

I know Cooperstown gets overshadowed by the other guys in town, but they make solid English-ish ales. Give them some at bats.

I'm choosing to review this as an English Pale Ale, because pretty much every aspect of this beer is more English than American, and it's a very successful English Ale for the reasons I will enumerate below, whereas it lacks the hop bite that we expect from an APA. I think the negative reviews this beer has received of late have been because of its miscategorization.

That said, it pours a hazy amber with a mountain of light tan head, which eventually bubbled away into a persistent half-inch of foam that left decent lacing most of the way down the glass. The smell was primarily of rich biscuity malts and honey, but there's fruity yeast and buttery diacetyl present as well. It's very pleasant.

I think it's quite a tasty brew, and don't understand other reviewers' gripes, aside from the fact that it's not a real APA. Up front, you've got the malts and honey, the fruity yeast, but the earthy/grassy hops do come out, and I don't find the finsh cloying at all -- more of a tart green apple.

It's got a big body, which borders on being too heavy, but the finish really makes up for it -- the mouthfeel is wet & sticky while the beer is still in your mouth, but right after each swallow, my tongue dried right up, which left me in the perfect position to have another sip. I'm not sure I'd drink this on a warm afternoon, but it's perfect for a cool spring evening such as tonight. A good session beer, IMO.

Presentation: It was poured from a brown 12oz bottle into a pint glass. No other information is available on the label.

Appearance: The body has a slightly hazy look with a good amber color and a creamy off white head. The two finger head slowly settles as I drink and makes some spotty lacing on the glass.

Smell: It has a nice blend of bready maltiness with a pleasant butterfinger like caramel/toffee sweetness and citrus/grassy hops.

Taste/Palate: It starts with a good base of bready malt and very light toasted grain. This is balanced buy mildly bitter hops that add a touch of citrus and grassy flavor to the overall character. It finishes with a mild bitter fade on a smooth yet well carbonated medium body.

Notes: It's good in the bottle but much better and with a brighter hop character on tap.

I would have to concur with some of the previous reviewers and say this does resemble an English Pale Ale moreso than an American one. One of the very reasons I enjoyed this brew. It poured a clear dark amber with lots of slightly off-white head, subsided to a ton of lacing. Smell is malty, with some hop aroma. Hops are definitely present in the flavor, Fuggles, maybe Goldings, could be wrong though. Aroma has a slight sweetness to it, very pleasant. This goes down nice and smooth, very easy to drink.

This is a very good ale. A perfect accompaniment to the Jays final game of the season.

This pours cold into a short pilsner glass a slightly hazy copper color with a nice fluffy white head and fair lacing. The aroma is a very pleasant blend of buttery malt and flowery hops. The taste is a chewy sweet malt with good hop bitterness, almost a chocolate butterscotch touch with good hop bite. Much more substantial than I anticipated. A bit peppery with a pretty heavy feel for a pale ale. Recommended for something a little different and decent. Plenty drinkable to boot.

12 oz. bottle from right here in Oneonta (about 20 miles away from Cooperstown).

Pours a nice copper color with a billowy head--moderatly good rentention. Lots of carbonation drifting up, very pretty.
A sweet carmel hops smell permeates the air couples with a red wheat aroma.
Nice foamy, sudsy taste at the start, giving way to a bittersweet sugar grain taste. The hops are quite prevalent, but on a whole the beer is quite relaxed.
The mouthfeel gives way to a higher carmel flavor and smoothes the beer out a bit while also intensifying the hops bite after the swallow. Very smooth and sticky as well.
Not complex, yet not the simplest thing either it's just overall a very nice beer. Very relaxing, sweet and smooth like caramel. Nice for a ballgame, that's for sure. The head retention is a big plus.

Had this on-tap at the Cooperstown Brewery itself.
Golden body. Pretty thick head. Lace sticks around the edges well. Mild malt smell with some fruity notes. Light hop aroma as well. Decently hopped for an APA. Plenty sufficient. Malt backs up the bitterness nicely. Enjoyable yeasty finish along with the slight citrus twang. A very well balanced pale in my opinion and one of my favorite offerings from the Cooperstown Brewing Co.

Chilled 12 oz. bottle poured into a mug. No freshness date on this one.

Look- Hazy deep amber with a blood orange tinge, it looks like butterscotch candy. The reasonable amount of head starts off a sparkly off-white color, and it definitely twinkled more than usual. Not sure if that was a trick of the light or just the density and color, but it looked pretty snazzy. The head takes on more of an old parchment tone and character as it compacts down to a ~2mm film that crowds towards the sides of the mug. No lacing to speak of. By the end of the mug, the head was barely a wisp at the surface and the glass was as clean as it would be were I drinking windex (not a recommended pastime.) I really wish I had another one of these on hand to see if that sparkly pour was a fluke. +.5 just for that.

Smell- Quite pleasant and lighthearted; I get a bright banana bread/toffee that borders on a candi sugar sweetness, but isn't at all offensive. Any bitter hop aroma is pretty solidly buried, but the leafy character of what is detectable balances out the sweetness quite well. Agitation brings out a light bitter citrus and a hint of lavender.

Taste- Much like the smell- light and playful. Starts off with a crisp smack of piney hops that mellows quickly into a light biscuity flavor with touches of buttery diacetyl, mineral water, and something flowery. Very clean, with only the faintest resiny aftertaste.

Mouthfeel- Medium bodied with moderate amount of carbonation, slightly oily and dry at the finish. The surprise was a very faint minty/herbal cooling sensation that lingered on the tongue. At first I thought it was just the beer's temperature, but it grew more pronounced as it warmed. Curiouser and curiouser. Other than that, it's exceptionally clean and leaves nothing but a desire for more- this is one easy-drinking beverage! I found myself sipping it quicker than I expected and was rather disappointed to find my glass empty in a matter of minutes.

Overall, this would be an excellent session beer, and I could drink quite a few in a row. Not sure on the freshness, but it's got an unusual hop/malt balance with enough complexity to make it reasonably interesting. Not lip-smacking, but quite quaffable- a solid session APA that I'll definitely try again.